~ Love Happiness & Angels

Random Acts of Kindness

This week I would like to try and inject some extra happiness into our lives.

We only have to listen to the news to realise the world is in turmoil. Is the world really all that bad? I sincerely hope not. Surely there is far more happiness and good out there than everyone would have us believe. Reporters seem to focus on all the negative stuff, after all it draws viewers in and sells papers. I remember when the news used to finish on a happy note. Newsreaders would wrap up their bulletins with stories of the fire brigade rescuing a cat stuck up a tree or similar such stories. What happened to these stories? I know wonderful things are still happening around us.

For example, last week I was encouraged when I read an update on Facebook about a mother who had taken her six year old daughter to Blackpool for a day out. While they were waiting for a tram they started talking to an elderly couple who had grandchildren. When it was time to say goodbye the kind couple gave the little girl £10. The mother and daughter were astounded at their generosity and kindness. This act of kindness made a huge difference to them. The mother later wrote that they probably didn’t realise how much their kind gesture had made their day and she went on to say what a lovely couple they were with big hearts. The mother also wrote that things like that do not happen every day.

I recently took my sixteen year old niece shopping, shopping is not my favourite pastime but to see the pleasure on her face when I bought her things was so rewarding and made me very happy.

What is apparent is when we are giving we receive just as much pleasure, if not more. It gives us a warm glow. Small things can make a big difference and have a huge impact on someone’s day. When we do good deeds it seems to have a knock on effect and the goodness continues to ripple out.

Good deeds or random acts of kindness as they are known can be anything from smiling at a person in a queue; helping someone to carry their heavy bags; helping someone down the stairs who is struggling with a push chair while everyone rushes by; buying a pastry or coffee for the homeless person that you pass everyday; letting someone go before you in a queue or letting them on the train before you; offering to do some shopping for a neighbour who doesn’t have transport; paying for someone’s car parking space, paying it forward, for someone behind you in a queue.

The list is endless and there are so many things that we can do, little things that might just make a big difference to someone else. There is even an organisation called Random Acts of Kindness and this can be found at www.randomactsofkindness.org.

So this week I would like to throw out a challenge to my wonderful happy readers. The challenge is to see if you can carry out one random act of kindness no matter how small. I currently have 80+ followers and if each reader carries out one small random act of kindness it might encourage the people on the receiving end to do the same. Imagine the consequences as this ripples out into the world.

Remember one little act of kindness might be a big deal to someone like the mother and daughter in Blackpool.

In our modern societies, random acts of kindness are less and less. We cannot blame people for selfishness . Not on the whole : their hectic life prevents them for paying attention to others. Where are the days among which solidarity gathered neighbours for harvesting or building houses in the village ? Where are the evenings during which an extra plate was laid on the table in case a traveler passed by ? At the time of peak communication (cellular phones, internet, etc…) people are more and more lonely… und unhappy, because they forget the little things which make them human.

We have to learn again to open our eyes, our mind, our heart, our purse. No need to spend big money… little things, whatever, something which means : I care of you and I am happy to do so.

I think and hope we are beginning to open our eyes more and are becoming aware of how little random acts can mean big things. I’ve had very positive feedback from this blog so we’ve raised the awareness, let’s hope it continues.